Banger ... rusty DB5 is expected to sell for £200k
BNPS.co.uk
IT looks like it has been through more scrapes than 007 himself but this battered Aston Martin is expected to sell for a staggering £200,000.
This iconic DB5 — the model forever associated with James Bond — has spent the last twenty years rotting away in a barn.
The bodywork is stripped bare and the interior little more than a shell with the once stylish black leather seating ripped apart and the luxury pile carpet torn out.
Auctioneers say its purchaser will have to spend at least another £200,000 restoring the car to its former glory.
But despite the huge price tag, wealthy vintage car enthusiasts are set to form a queue when it comes up for sale in Monte Carlo later this month.
Philip Kantor, European director of motor cars for auctioneers Bonhams, said the Aston Martin's rustic condition actually made it more appealing to buyers.
He said: "People interested in buying it are generally very wealthy collectors who want it to be in a barn find condition.
"This is because they see it as a restoration project and can restore it to their own choice.
Rare
"They will know it has been done properly, rather than a restored version that may be well done in parts and not in others.
"DB5s were one of the most expensive cars on the market at the time. This one would have cost £3,000 to £4,000 new in the 1960s.
"They were handmade and a very desirable, top of the range, supercar of the day.
"There is no doubt the James Bond films helped make the car and that is why most people who own one have it in the silver birch colour, just like in the films.
"I doubt whether James Bond would feel happy to drive this one in its current state but once it has been restored I'm sure he will."
Just 983 DB5s were made at the Aston Martin factory in Newport Pagnell, Bucks, between 1963 and 1965.
The two door coupes had a four litre engine, 282 bhp and a top speed of 145mph. Onboard luxuries included electric windows, pile carpets and a fire extinguisher.
The car being sold is a 1964 model, has only had three owners and has only 61,163 miles on the clock. It was originally a Fiesta Red colour and is left hand drive.
It is thought it was bought from new by an American as it was titled to an address in Pennsylvania from 1968.
The owner sold it to a William Jackson from Hummelstown, Pennsylvania, in 1979 but he relegated it to his barn for two decades.
It was bought by its current owner who rescued it from the farm building a year ago.
But the anonymous vendor realised he didn't have sufficient funds to restore it properly and so is selling it for a similar sum that he paid for it.
Mr Kantor added: "They are extremely sought-after cars today.
"The sort of people who buy these cars today are people who saw them and fell in love with them as children in the sixties and can now afford to buy one.
"They are very wealthy people who would probably have a mechanic working full time on the project."
The auction is being held by Bonhams at the Prince of Monaco's motor museum in Monte Carlo on April 30.
Read more: http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/2940241/James-Bonds-Rust-in-Martin.html#ixzz0m3FPGb36
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